Center City is the heart of Greater Philadelphia and is home to the largest, most dynamic, and most diverse retail district in the region. Nearly 3,000 retail stores, service providers, and food and beverage options exist within a two-square-mile area creating a pleasant, vibrant, walkable urban experience that cannot be replicated in any mall or suburb.
Our year-end 2024 Retail Update pulls together the latest data on retail occupancy, demand, and leasing activity and explores emerging trends and opportunities that will shape Center City’s retail landscape in the coming years.
Key Takeaways
1.
Occupancy has stabilized at 83%. (Page 4)
2.
Open Streets increased sales by an average of 68% and foot traffic by 36%. (Page 8)
3.
Zara, Abercrombie, and Nordstrom are the most desired missing retailers. (Page 10)
4.
Three of the nation’s 50 wealthiest ZIP codes are in or next to Center City. (Page 11)
5.
Washington Avenue and Spring Garden Street are the newest retail clusters to emerge. (Page 12)
6.
The number of retailers has grown 15% in five years. (Page 13)
7.
Experiential concepts are booming, with a major cluster east of Broad Street. (Page 15)
8.
Rittenhouse is a leading and growing market for “clicks-to-bricks” concepts. (Page 17)
9.
The office district has an opportunity to serve as an expansion of Rittenhouse Row. (Page 18)
10.
Outdoor seating at restaurants has shrunk by more than 2,000 seats since 2021. (Page 21)
Center City Retail Stats
As of October 2024, district-wide retail occupancy stands at 83%, down slightly from the midyear level of 83.6%. While most retail corridors within the district have maintained steady occupancy numbers over time, Rittenhouse Row has seen an increase in vacancy which explains most of the 0.6% drop in overall occupancy. Much of the recent vacancy within Rittenhouse Row can be attributed to new construction bringing additional storefronts to the neighborhood, subdivision of spaces, and properties zoned for retail being brought back to market after years of neglect. Despite vacancy inching up higher within the Rittenhouse Row corridor, the true number of active retail businesses is unchanged year-over-year.
Rittenhouse Row’s occupancy is set to rise over the next year as many long-awaited concepts prepare to open, including the city’s first Equinox, Aritzia, Flight Club, Jordan Brand’s World of Flight, Borromini, and JD Sports. See page 5 for a full list of notable openings, both recent and expected.
Center City Retail Occupancy
83% Center City District
Recent Openings
Food & Beverage
Almyra 1636 Chancellor Street
Barcade 1326 Chestnut Street
Bar Lesieur 1523 Sansom Street
Behind the Red Door—Vita
Gelateria 261 S 17th Street
Black Turtle Coffee
129 S. 18th Street
Brunchaholics
38-40 S. 19th Street
Cafe Square One 1225 Walnut Street
Chip City
204 S 17th Street
Chubby Cuppa Tea 922 Arch Street
Ding Feng Tang 1021 Arch Street
Dizengoff 1625 Sansom Street*
Drink Fresh by Djurdjura 711 Walnut Street
Gojo Poke 1701 Arch Street
Gouldsburger’s Express
100-20 North 18th Street
Hangry Joe’s Chicken
28 S 20th Street
Hey Yogurt 115 North 9th Street
Hi-Lo Taco Co. 1109 Walnut Street
Insomnia Cookies
1 South Broad Street
Jiang Nan 927 Arch Street
Jimmy John’s 44 South 17th Street
Juan Pistola’s Tasting Room
The Shops at Liberty Place
Kwench Smoothies 1500 Market Street
Levain Bakery 1516-18 Walnut Street
Lucy’s 1720 Walnut Street
Mama’s Falafel 18 South 20th Street
Midnight & The Wicked 1500 Sansom Street
Miss Saigon 1316 Walnut Street
Mulherin’s Pizza 1175 Ludlow Street
N’abrasa Brazilian Steakhouse 1901 JFK Boulevard
Neuhaus Chocolates 1616 Walnut Street
New Era Cuisine
1500 JFK Boulevard
Oltremare 2121 Walnut Street
Pure Green 1124 Walnut Street
Puttshack 1625 Chestnut Street
Rittenhouse Deli & Juice Bar 1510-12 Sansom Street
Shay’s
200 North 16th Street
Space KTV Bar & Lounge 1025 Arch Street
Sushi by Bou Midtown 1224 Chestnut Street
Taylor Chip 1807 Chestnut Street
Teazzi Tea Shop 1026 Arch Street
The Ground Rittenhouse
116 South 18th Street
The Little Hot Dog Wagon 901 Market Street
The Pierogie Place 1625 Chestnut Street
Topside Tavern 10 S. 20th Street
Retailers
Alo Yoga 1608 Walnut Street
Avigail Adam Jewelery
118 S. 18th Street
BOTLD
117 S. 13th Street
FIGS
1625 Walnut Street
Frankenstein Bike Worx 1427 Spruce Street
Free Press
305 N. 15th Street
M.M. LAFLEUR 1700 Sansom Street
Maison x Philly Fashion Week 901 Market Street
Reformation 1723 Walnut Street
ROSS Dress for Less 1044 Market Street*
Sunglass Hut 1703 Chestnut Street
The Narrative 124 South 16th Street
Vuori
1705 Walnut Street
Service Providers
Architeqt Color Bar 1501 Walnut Street
Avita Pharmacy 1226 Chestnut Street
Beat the Bomb 1218 Chestnut Street
Envy Nail Lounge & Spa
1500 JFK Boulevard
Fitting Atellier 1120 Walnut Street
Framebridge
113 S. 18th Street
Full Circle Yoga x Wellness 1611 Walnut Street
Glowbar 42 S. 17th Street
LaserAway 1503 Walnut Street
SideQuest Theater at the Adrienne 2030 Sansom Street
Skin Laundry
123 S. 16th Street
Sporting Club at the Bellevue 224 S Broad Street, Fl 8
WOLF Fitness
1 South Broad Street
Coming Soon
Food & Beverage
Amma’s
1500 Walnut Street
Ayat
2021-23 Sansom Street
Boqueria 1608 Sansom Street
Borromini 1805-09 Walnut Street
Brooklyn Dumpling Shop 1504 Sansom Street
Cake & Joe 1735 Market Street
Cellar Dog 258 S. 15th Street
Chubby Chicks Café 1111 Walnut Street
Craft Concepts Group
Restaurant 1515 Market 1515 Market Street
Dave’s Hot Chicken 1713 Chestnut Street
Dear Daphni 1911 Walnut Street
Flight Club Darts 1417 Walnut Street
Garage 1501 Spruce Street
Izakaya & Sushi Concept 1710 Sansom Street
Kimmel Center Café &
Restaurant
300 S Broad Street
Kissho House 1522 Locust Street
Koch’s Deli 622 Market Street
La Jefa 1604 Latimer Street
Liquorette 1534 Sansom St
Little Gay Pub
102 S. 13th Street
Madis Coffee Roasters
601 Walnut Street
Madis Coffee Roasters 1441 Chestnut Street
Mi Vida 1100 Ludlow Street
Mona 1308 Chestnut Street
Mr. Edison 200 S. Broad Street
Rhythm & Spirits 1617 JFK Boulevard
The Saints 1901 Chestnut Street
Starbucks
100-20 N. 18th Street 1032 Chesnut Street
Taco Bell Cantina 1614 Chestnut Street
Tacodelphia 2051 Walnut Street
Tequilas 1602 Locust Street
Retailers
70Six Boutique 132 S 17th Street
Aritzia 1725 Walnut Street
JD Sports 1528 Chestnut Street
Jefferson Campus Store
1000-32 Chestnut Street
New Balance 1619-21 Walnut Street*
Nike-Jordan World of Flight 1617 Walnut Street
Service Providers
Equinox 1911 Walnut Street
F1 Arcade 1330-36 Chestnut Street
Five Iron Golf 1717 Arch Street
Satori Laser 1921 Chestnut Street
*denotes relocation
New and Notable Retailers in Center City
Love Park
Rittenhouse
John F Kennedy
Sansom
Open Streets: West Walnut
During Open Streets: West Walnut, nearly 90% of businesses reported an increase in foot traffic, while 79% noted a rise in sales. Retailers in particular experienced an impressive average sales increase of 90%.
This past September, Center City District (in partnership with Rittenhouse Row and the City of Philadelphia) implemented a highly anticipated and ambitious plan—the closure of Walnut Street and 18th Street near Rittenhouse Square to vehicular traffic. The objective: boost foot traffic and drive business to retailers along the route.
Data from Placer.ai highlighted the program’s success in attracting visitors, with more than 47,800 people participating in Open Streets: West Walnut over the four Sundays. This represented an average increase of 36% in foot traffic compared to typical Sunday pedestrian numbers, peaking at 59% during the third week.
Beyond these encouraging statistics, the program also fostered a safer shopping environment. Approximately 36% of businesses observed a decrease in shoplifting and nuisance behavior, with no businesses reporting any increase in such issues.
The program’s initial week saw a significant visitation from those residing within two miles of the route. Subsequent weeks attracted an increasing number of visitors from the suburbs and beyond, with many traveling from over 10 miles away to enjoy the vibrant car-free environment.
“ Community is everything and having Open Streets really made it a focus in September. We saw very large increases in traffic week over week and the business was able to really thrive. It really got our weeks off to a great start!” —Brooklinen
We asked, you answered— What stores do people want to see in Center City?
Most Requested Retailers from Respondents
This summer, CCD surveyed local Philadelphians to gain insight into their shopping preferences, how they get around town, and most importantly, what retailers they would like to see in Center City.
91% of the 376 respondents reside either in Center City or in immediately adjacent neighborhoods. While a small share of respondents (19%) highlighted the ease and convenience of driving and parking as reasons to shop outside Center City, nearly twice as many respondents (37%) reported that they do not have regular access to a car. This is an important reminder that not only is Center City’s spending power densely clustered in walkable areas, but it is also made up in part of people who opt not to drive. While many residents can access cars or travel to shop via other means, 19% of respondents said they don’t ever leave Center City to shop, reaffirming that downtown
Top In-Demand Retailer Types for Center City
contains a relatively captive audience of shoppers who prefer to (or in some cases, need to) do their shopping in the core. This suggests that if a store opens in Center City, residents are likely to shop there first before considering alternatives.
And what specific retailers are Philadelphians asking for in Center City? Fashion mainstays such as Zara, Abercrombie, and Nordstrom top the list, alongside lifestyle retailers including Crate & Barrel, REI, and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Respondents didn’t only request to see traditional retailers — experiential and family-oriented spaces such as the Lego Store, movie theaters, and independently owned music venues also came up frequently in survey responses. Center City’s ever-strengthening demographics suggest that the spending power is there to support ongoing aggregation of desired brands downtown (see facing page).
Source: Center City District
Scan the QR code to see a dashboard summarizing everything we heard during our summer 2024 Center City shopper survey. If reading digitally, click here to access our survey results.
Center City Shopper Profile
Center City Residents Are:
Well educated—79% of the population has at least a bachelor’s degree, with 43% holding at least a master’s degree.
Affluent—The median household income is $94,804, and the average household income is $152,234. The number of households making $100,000 or more increased by 8,629 from 2012 to 2022.
of residents with at least a bachelor's degree # of residents with at least a master's degree
Source: U.S. American Community Survey
Inbound migration to Center City neighborhoods from more expensive cities as well as surrounding suburbs contributes to downtown’s dominance in terms of total spending power.
This past year, The Business Journals calculated the 1,000 wealthiest ZIP codes in the United States by taking into account the density of high-income people in order to understand the actual concentration of total wealth.
By focusing on the density of high-earning residents rather than a simple average of household income, the analysis lays bare a vitally important truth: urban cores contain vastly more aggregate spending power than even the wealthiest suburbs. In fact, the top four wealthiest ZIP codes across the region are in or adjacent to Center City, with 19103 (containing Rittenhouse, Fitler, and Logan Squares) coming in as the 24th wealthiest ZIP code in the United States.
Wealthiest ZIP Codes in Greater Philadelphia
31.6% of Center City residents walk to work
45.9% of Center City residents are part of the millennial generation (born 1981 – 1998)
$491,891 Median home value
Development, Density and Demand
Unmet demand in the core
While Center City storefronts benefit from secondary demand bases of employees, conventioneers, and tourists, downtown retail demand is overwhelmingly created by its residents. This is reflected in the shifting retail mix, which is increasingly catering to the demographics clustered in close proximity. Areas with higher population density and a larger pipeline of new apartment units can support more retail, so it’s no surprise that areas west of Broad have seen the overwhelming amount of recent retail leasing and investment. More residential development east of Broad along Market East can create additional demand for future retailers.
New retail clusters emerging Mid- and high-rise apartment projects proliferating across Extended Center City neighborhoods are growing retail demand in previously underserved areas. Larger developments not only attract new residents, but also provide brand new retail spaces to occupy. This has helped set the stage for more walkable and livable neighborhoods, as supermarkets, gyms, childcare, and other key amenities have leased space in these new projects. Growing retail clusters include Washington Avenue from Broad Street to the west, and Spring Garden Street at Broad as well as closer to the Delaware River.
Scan the QR code to explore the relationship between density, development, and demand at our interactive online map. If reading digitally, click here to access our map.
Population Density and New Apartment Construction
What categories of retailers have been expanding/contracting over the past several years?
Retail Survey Results
513
Retailers
in CCD
(Up 15% since 2019)
568 Food & Beverage Establishments
(Down 6% since 2019)
The Center City District is home to 1,792 retail business, and this number has grown by about 4% since 2019. New construction and investment in Center City have increased the number of retail spaces in the district as retailers enjoy more and greater options to lease space.
Center City’s retail landscape has—and will—always be a place ripe for growth and evolution. The population primarily driving retail demand—the residents—continues to grow, while
In the past two years, Center City has added:
35 full-service restaurants
26 bar/nightlife locations
7 coffee shops
9 ice cream shops
4 furniture stores
484 Service
Providers
(Up 4% since 2019)
workforce and visitor populations are increasingly diverse, with workers in nearly every industry and tourists from around the world represented. Shifting macroeconomic trends and consumer tastes mean that Center City is highly adaptable to these headwinds and can be the first to capitalize on a true reflection of retail demand.
On the flip side, since 2022 Center City has lost:
11 art galleries
8 womenswear stores
4 takeout/quick service food establishments
6 shoe stores
“Philadelphia is one of my favorite cities...It’s also a phenomenal food city and incredibly stylish. Many of our local customers work in academia or healthcare, and I love the way so many of them appreciate great style and practicality, in equal parts. They want clothes that are effortless all while saying ‘listen to me’—and that's what we do best.”
—Sarah LaFleur, Founder and CEO of M.M.LaFleur
2024: Year of the Cookie (Store)
BenjaminFranklynParkway
Center City has always been the go-to destination for finding exactly what you might want at a moment’s notice—whether it’s shoes, books, coffee, or even a new couch. More recently, one trend has risen as the most irresistible craving: cookies.
Center City is home to 17 bakeries, including eight that specialize exclusively in cookies. In just the last two years, national brands like Chip City, Blueprint Cookies, Taylor Chip and Levain Bakery have chosen to do business here. Additionally, Philadelphia’s own Insomnia Cookies recently opened its corporate headquarters and a brand new flagship retail space at 1 South Broad Street.
Why are cookies the current sweet treat of choice? They’re a classic comfort food at an affordable price, easily transportable and giftable, and come in a variety of often-customizable ingredients. Social media has played a significant role in driving demand, as evidenced by the long lines of eager customers waiting for grand openings.
With tens of thousands of people strolling past Center City storefronts every day, bakeries provide an especially tempting opportunity for any shopper with a sweet tooth.
Love Park
Rittenhouse Square
F Kennedy BLVD
Experiential retail is booming in Center City
BenjaminFranklinParkway
Center City has reaped the benefit of modern consumers’ desire to spend more of their money on experiences rather than simply traditional shopping. While people have always flocked to the area for entertainment, the landscape of experiential retail has transformed significantly in recent years beyond the traditional movie theater. New venues like Puttshack, Beat the Bomb and Five Iron Golf have all expanded into the heart of Philadelphia, offering fun and accessible options for weekend visitors, neighborhood outings or happy hours after work.
Innovative retailers such as these have been an excellent fit for large, non-traditional spaces that otherwise might have posed a challenge for more traditional businesses. The experiential momentum continues, with the soon-to-open Flight Club Darts and recently announced F1 Arcade set to debut in Center City in 2025.
Rittenhouse Square
Center City ranks among the most robust clusters for digitally native brands
Center City remains a key regional hub for new retailers aiming to establish a presence in Philadelphia. Digitally native brands like Brooklinen and Lovesac were among the first “clicks to bricks” retailers to open physical locations in the area, transitioning from exclusively online sales to brick-andmortar stores. As national expansion efforts ramp up, these retailers are choosing Center City over suburban markets as their top local option. When professional womenswear brand M.M.LaFleur was searching for its next physical location, Center City was the clear choice thanks to a strong online local customer base paired with proximity to where its shoppers live and work.
Dilworth Park
The Office District as an Expansion of Rittenhouse Row
The West Market Office District is so called because it contains the vast majority of Philadelphia’s high-rise and high-quality office space. Despite the already impressive mix of other uses (see facing page), the office district is still thought of by many as a single-use area where retail survives only by virtue of the daytime office population. This could not be further from the truth. Center City is unique among U.S. cities in the proximity and co-mingling of its best shopping district and its primary office district, both of which sit within its wealthiest ZIP code (the 24th wealthiest in the country).
Within the 19103 ZIP code (where population density approaches 40,000 residents per square mile, or roughly that of Buenos Aires and Barcelona), 47% of households earn more than $100,000 and 21.5% earn more than $200,000. This compact and walkable concentration of wealth is rivaled and exceeded only by select neighborhoods in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Rather than think of our office district as a single-use canyon, it should be thought of as a flexible district where the Rittenhouse, Fitler, and Logan Square neighborhoods can come together and expand without impacting the character and scale of their residential streets. Retail spaces on Market Street, JFK Boulevard and Arch Street can accommodate brands seeking a footing downtown as a northern expansion of Rittenhouse Row.
For those who doubt that Center City’s retail district can grow, we need only look to Chestnut Street for further proof.
The test case for this has been staring us in the face for decades. Trader Joe’s opened at 22nd and Market at a time when adult movie theaters still operated across the street and the office district ended abruptly at 21st Street. While the building it occupies contains apartments, the area was far less dense than it is today (2,458 units have been built within three blocks of Trader Joe’s since it opened). At the time, very little about the location fit the general criteria for grocery stores. The residential density was blocks away, there was no retail co-tenancy, and the experience of getting there on foot was tolerable at best. Yes, the store’s +/- 60 parking spaces are always full, but it is easy to see from the number of people in the store and the number of transactions per hour that the shoppers arriving by car, while highly visible in the way they congest 22nd Street, are in reality a small share of the store’s customer base. Instead, Trader Joe’s attracts residents from
Logan, Rittenhouse, and Fitler Squares on foot, office workers from the blocks to the east, and residents and students from West Philadelphia neighborhoods who arrive by trolley directly outside the store. Trader Joe’s proves the viability of Market Street as a retail destination: if you provide a much-desired or “missing” retailer on a Market Street block, nearby residents, office workers and commuters are more than willing to walk the extra few minutes to patronize the business, or to work it into their longer commutes.
For those who doubt that Center City’s retail district can grow, we need only look to Chestnut Street for further proof. Not many years ago, Chestnut Street was considered a no-go by most out-of-town retail concepts. Fast forward to today, and an impressive array of national and regional retailers have helped make Chestnut Street a strong and ever-improving retail corridor; Nordstrom Rack, Sephora, J.Crew Factory, Banana Republic Factory, Barnes and Noble, Allen Edmonds, DiBruno Brothers, Joan Shepp, Boyds, Sunglass Hut, Paris Baguette, Puttshack, Uniqlo and Target are among those calling Chestnut Street home. In the same way that Chestnut created a release valve for pent-up demand, while also providing larger spaces for concepts unable to find suitable homes on Walnut, Market Street can position itself to do the same. Philadelphia’s premier shopping district can continue to grow northward.
As our summer shopper survey illustrates (and any quick comparison of downtown Philadelphia’s retail offerings to similarly dense and walkable urban neighborhoods nationwide will corroborate), there are scores of retailers “missing” from Center City that could plausibly thrive if they could only find a suitable space within close enough proximity of 19103’s sizable spending power. For select concepts, Market Street offers a better value proposition than Walnut or Chestnut, since it also puts stores directly below thousands of office workers and directly above hundreds of thousands of Regional Rail, subway, and trolley riders.
Rittenhouse Square is just 0.2 mile from 18th and Market. Logan Square is just 0.2 mile from 18th and JFK. The "office district" is becoming more mixed-use all the time. Rather than jumping across Broad Street or the Schuylkill River, retailers can be a part of reinventing the high-rise district as the lively intersection of multiple neighborhoods.
Chestnut St.
Market St.
JFK BLVD
Walnut St.
Rethinking Outdoor Seating
Outdoor dining in Center City is approaching a crossroads nearly three years after reaching a pandemic-driven peak in outdoor seating. While current outdoor dining capacity remains slightly above 2019 levels, the overall number of outdoor seats has diminished significantly since topping out in summer 2021.
Today, much of the decline in seating capacity has been due to the loss of proper streetery dining structures — only four establishments still maintain streeteries, while the number of sidewalk café seating has only declined by a modest 8%, in part attributed to seasonal fluctuations.
Demand for outdoor dining remains robust, with tables consistently filled each evening. If the appetite for these experiences persists, how can we meet this need? The success of the Open Streets initiative demonstrated that both residents and visitors cherish the transformation of urban spaces from car-centric areas into vibrant, people-friendly environments. Periodic street closures can enhance outdoor dining by creating
calm, expanded zones for restaurants to extend their seating. Additionally, parking reform and thoughtful landscaping can reclaim underutilized street space, converting parking spots into temporary or permanent dining areas — whether with or without formal streetery structures.
This approach aims to reclaim, expand, and optimize the amount of public space, which can be constrained in a dense downtown.
Source: Center City District
Sidewalk Café Sidewalk Café and Streetery Streetery Only
Outdoor Dining Seats In Center City District
Center City Pedestrian Volumes
Weekday Evening Pedestrian Volumes, 2024
Weekend Pedestrian Volumes, 2024
Center City continues to cement its status as the tourism hub of Philadelphia, with non-resident visitors making up 41% of the pedestrian population on weekends.
Center City Non-Resident Visitor Home Locations
Source: Placer.ai
Source: Placer.ai
Source: Placer.ai
Credits
This report was researched and written by Jimmy Salfiti, Economic Development Manager, and Clint Randall, Vice President of Economic Development, and designed by David Orantes, Art Director. The retail occupancy survey was overseen by Jessie Brain, GIS Manager. The report team also includes Prema Katari Gupta, President and CEO; JoAnn Loviglio, Vice President of Communications and Public Relations; Leo Manning, Director of Strategic Communications; Adrianna Morsey, Research Analyst; Bonnie Thompson, Senior Director of Digital Marketing; Lauren Smith, Economic Development Manager; and Emma Witanowski, GIS Intern.
CPDC Members
We are grateful for the ongoing support of Central Philadelphia Development Corporation (CPDC) members, who make reports such as this one possible. For more information on CPDC and how to join, visit joincpdc.org.
